Description
I created this artwork to illustrate how the cliché narrative of Malcolm and Martin as opposing forces does not properly honor their legacies as revolutionary leaders who both dedicated their lives to the civil and human rights of Black Americans and all people. I see Malcolm and Martin more like the duality of yin-yang, a philosophy describing seemingly opposing forces as interdependent and working in harmony. After I finished this artwork, I started researching ways I could describe Malcolm and Martin in terms of yin and yang and I came across the perfect book, The Sword and the Shield: The Revolutionary lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., by Dr. Peniel E. Joseph. The duality of Malcolm and Martin is described in great detail in this book, I wish I could include the whole epilogue on this post, and I encourage anyone interested to read this book. In his book Dr. Joseph says, “[Malcolm and Martin’s] ubiquitous presence in American popular and political culture flattens a deeper understanding of their legacies framing them as simplistic dueling opposites obscures the ways in which each serve as the alter ego of the other.” He then goes on to finish the book with these words, “The Sword and the shield no longer reflecting divergent world views but dual at times intersecting and even complimentary strategies that continue to shape movements for racial justice dignity and citizenship in America and around the world.” Dr. Joseph does not mention yin-yang in his book but the way he discusses Malcom and Martin fits easily within the philosophy of yin-yang.